The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has threatened to drag Nigeria before the United States of America and the International Criminal Court (ICC), if within seven-working-days, it fails to arrest and prosecute terrorists allegedly known to authorities.
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The group’s position followed recent claims by Islamic cleric Ahmad Gumi that the government has the names and locations of every terrorist operating in the country.
In as statement by its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA warned that failure by the administration of Bola Tinubu to act decisively within the stipulated time, would compel it to escalate the matter internationally, including filing formal petitions to the United States president, the United States Congress and the International Criminal Court, seeking an investigation into what it described as the Nigerian government’s “apparent tolerance or protection of terrorists responsible for mass killings across the country.”
The advocacy group said Gumi’s recent televised remarks had raised grave national security and legal questions that the federal authorities must urgently address.
It recalled that during an interview on DRTV, the Kaduna-based cleric publicly declared that the Nigerian government knows the identity and exact location of every terrorist operating within the country.
Gumi also insisted that his controversial visits to bandit camps were not done secretly but with the knowledge and presence of security agencies.
According to Gumi, “the government knows every terrorist by name and location.”
He added that when he engages with armed groups, he does not go alone but in the company of the police, military and other security agencies. Reacting to the development, HURIWA said the claim, if true, would amount to one of the most shocking admissions of state failure in Nigeria’s ongoing war against terrorism.
“HURIWA finds the statement credited to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi extremely disturbing. If indeed the Federal Government knows every terrorist by name and location as claimed, then Nigerians deserve to know why these criminals continue to roam freely, kidnapping school children, murdering farmers, attacking communities and destabilizing the nation,” the group said.
The organisation insisted that if the government already possesses actionable intelligence identifying terrorists and their hideouts, there can be no justification for the continued bloodshed across several states.
“We are therefore giving the Federal Government of Nigeria seven working days to arrest the terrorists whose identities and locations are allegedly known to the authorities and to immediately commence their prosecution in accordance with Nigerian law,” the statement added.
HURIWA further argued that the continued freedom of the cleric himself, despite his admitted interactions with terrorist groups, raises troubling questions about the seriousness of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism policy.
“If Sheikh Gumi truly has extensive knowledge of the identities and locations of terrorists, why have security agencies not invited him for comprehensive questioning or investigation? His freedom without scrutiny lends credibility to his assertion that the government is already aware of these terrorists and yet has failed to act,” the group said.
The rights organisation warned that if no concrete action is taken within seven working days, it will initiate international legal advocacy to hold Nigeria’s leadership accountable for what it described as crimes against humanity arising from persistent terrorist attacks.
“HURIWA will formally petition the United States Congress, the administration of President Donald Trump and the International Criminal Court to demand a global inquiry into the Nigerian government’s handling of terrorism, including the possibility that state negligence or complicity is enabling these atrocities,” it stated.
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